Culture media is of fundamental importance for most microbiological tests: to obtain pure cultures, to grow and count microbial cells, and to cultivate and select microorganisms. Without high-quality media, the possibility of achieving accurate, reproducible, and repeatable microbiological test results is reduced.

ISO
11133:2014 defines terms related to quality assurance of culture media and
specifies the requirements for the preparation of culture media intended for
the microbiological analysis of food, animal feed, and samples from the food or
feed production environment as well as all kinds of water intended for
consumption or used in food production. These requirements are applicable to
all categories of culture media prepared for use in laboratories performing
microbiological analyses.

ISO
11133:2014 also sets criteria and describes methods for the performance testing
of culture media. It applies to producers such as: